Overview

The Community Immigrant Retention in Rural Ontario (CIRRO) program helps you support newcomers and youth looking to settle in your community.

You can develop a strategy to:

  • balance a changing population
  • meet demands for more skilled workers
  • sustain or grow your local economy

Eligibility

CIRRO is for rural communities in Ontario that have the resources to undertake the project.

Your organization is eligible if it’s a:

  • community and neighbourhood organization
  • municipal, county or regional government organization
  • chamber of commerce
  • business improvement association
  • tourism association
  • community futures development corporation

How to get started

Email us or call 1-877-424-1300.

We’ll assign a regional economic development advisor who will:

  • help you tailor the program to your community – based on the people, time and money you have available
  • train your team to successfully run the project
  • give you the tools you need – a step-by-step guide and benchmarking indicators

How it works

With our guidance, you’ll run the program in your community.

The program happens in four stages:

1. Engage your community and build awareness

First, you speak to a cross-section of community members to get them on-board and learn about issues that affect local businesses. This step is critical to the success of your project.

2. Collect and analyze your findings

Then you’ll find out what attracts newcomers and what prevents them from settling in your community by looking at various factors (e.g. employment, education, housing).

3. Plan and take action

At this stage, you’ll use your findings to create a plan that integrates newcomers into your community’s economic, social and cultural life.

4. Measure success

Finally, you measure the results and adjust your plan to ensure long-term success.

Resources

CIRRO Guidebook

This guide offers strategies and best practices to attract newcomers and help them stay in your community. Fill out this form to get a copy of the CIRRO guidebook.

Newcomer and Youth Community Indicators

This benchmarking tool helps you assess your community’s ability to attract and retain newcomers and youth.